little skate
- noun
- /ˈlɪtəl skeɪt/
- Specialized
:
patín pequeño
- The little skate is often seen by divers in shallow coastal waters during the summer.
Examples
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Many marine biologists study the little skate because of its abundance and manageable size.
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A fisherman caught a little skate while trawling near the shore.
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The little skate is often found in shallow waters.
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Did you catch a little skate at the beach?
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A fisherman caught a little skate while trawling near the shore.
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Many marine biologists study the little skate because of its abundance and manageable size.
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The little skate is often seen by divers in shallow coastal waters during the summer.
Synonyms
A small fish like a ray that lives in shallow North American waters and grows to about 21 inches long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'little' (small) modifies 'skate' (a flat-bodied ray), so the meaning 'a small skate' or small species/individual is directly derivable from the parts. This is a common, compositional pattern cross-linguistically and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Little skate comes from skate, a flat, ray-like fish that seems to 'skate' or glide along the sea floor, and little simply shows it is the smaller species. So the name tells you it is a small, flat fish that swims near the bottom.
